


Leap Day

by segerge



Series: TASK FORCE [52]
Category: HERO Champions
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-06 00:00:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6728581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/segerge/pseuds/segerge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(February 28-29, 2012) DEMON is preparing a ritual that will sacrifice Earth's dimension to the Qliphotic Realms so that its leader can become an eldritch abomination.  Shadow Destroyer is trying to subvert this ritual to restore his own timeline.  Doctor Destroyer is looking to escape being stranded in 1986 and kill Shadow Destroyer for doing that to him.  TASK FORCE just wants to save the Earth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Leap Day

**Author's Note:**

> **warnings** : time travel in two different timelines, intense action sequences, temporal paradoxii, occult rituals, several violent and messy deaths
> 
> * * *
> 
> #### DRAMATIS PERSONAE
> 
> **TASK FORCE (covert American supergroup)**
> 
>   * Ted Jameson (AKA Ranger), disgustingly-powerful speedster
>   * Julie Dormyer Hawkins (AKA Ladyhawk), Chairman of the Board of Directors for ProStar, disgustingly-powerful ninja with latent powers of temporal visualization
>   * Dr. Bob Hawkins (AKA Starforce), Senior Research Scientist for ProStar, disgustingly-powerful power-armor wearer/gadgeteer
>   * Olivia d'Alembert (AKA Thelambra), supermodel, wife of Ted Jameson, luck-based Empyrean telekinetic
>   * David Kayami (AKA Grandfather), disgustingly-powerful Navajo-themed supermage/cleric
>   * Jason Kayami (AKA Ghostbane), Brick with powers of magic absorption
> 

> 
> **Justice Squadron (NYC-area supergroup)**
> 
>   * Craig Nguyen (AKA Blink), teleporter
>   * Thomas Massaquay (AKA Tomahawk), mystic native-American warrior
>   * Jonothan Keyes (AKA The Drifter, expy of Dr. Strange except he looks like a 1940's private eye)
>   * Doug Ashmore (AKA Brawler), brick
> 

> 
> **The Champions (Millenium City-area supergroup)**
> 
>   * James Harmon IV (AKA Defender), CEO of Harmon Industries, power-armor wearer
>   * Bethany DuQuesne (AKA Witchcraft), magic-user
>   * Drogen Lar (AKA Ironclad), alien brick
> 

> 
> **villains**
> 
>   * Tempus Carlson (AKA Captain Chronos), Time-elemental from the 60th century
>   * Dr. Albert Zerstoiten (AKA Dr. Destroyer, expy of Dr. Doom in the CU timeline)
>   * James Harmon III (AKA Shadow Destroyer), alternate-timeline version of Dr. Destroyer
>   * Luther Black (AKA The Edomite), Foul Master of DEMON
>   * Black Shepherd, member of DEMON's Inverted Trinity
>   * Jack Fool, member of DEMON's Inverted Trinity
>   * The Left Hand, member of DEMON's Inverted Trinity
>   * Stephen Plantagenet (AKA Aquarius), magical weather controller and pretender to the throne of the United Kingdom
> 

> 
> **others**
> 
>   * Shina Arikawa, butler/chauffer/bodyguard for Julie Hawkins (her 'Alfred')
>   * Nathan Hawkins, oldest son of Bob and Julie Hawkins, speedster
>   * Shri Kartikeya, Elder of the Vale of Javangiri
>   * Masahara Yoshihiro (AKA Tetsuronin), disgustingly-powerful power-armor wearer/gadgeteer
>   * Robert Caliburn, supermage and gun collector
> 

> 
> **AUTHOR'S NOTE 1** : Telepathy is denoted by (( )), internal monologue by [[ ]]
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S NOTE 2** : Some familiarity with the Champions Fifth Edition supplements 'Book of the Destroyer' and 'DEMON: Servants of Darkness,' as well as the stories 'The Paradox of Doctor Destroyer,' 'Greatest Generation.' 'The Battle of Detroit,' 'The Legacy of Doctor Destroyer,' 'Return of the Destroyer,' "Chantal's War," "The Island of Shadow Destroyer," and "The Great Stronghold Breakout" (and when I finally finish it, 'The Evil of Doctor Destroyer') are helpful but not necessary to understand this story. Yes, I've been setting it up for *quite* some time...
> 
> * * *

**PROLOGUE** : Crystal City, Arlington, VA. 9/30/2011.

(The door to Ted Jameson's condo opens, and LTG Ted 'Ranger' Jameson walks in. He goes through various procedures which can only be a post-work ritual, only pausing his ritual long enough to stare at the coat of his dress greens for a long moment after he takes it off)

 **Phone AI** : "Incoming call, sir. It is Bob and Julie Hawkins."

 **Ranger** : "On screen."

(the flatscreen TV in the living room wakes up. We see Bob 'Starforce' Hawkins and Julie 'Ladyhawk' Hawkins at the other end of the connection, which appears to be the Library of Stately Dormyer Manor Mark II)

 **Starforce** : "Boss."

 **Ladyhawk** : "How are you doing, Ted?"

(awkward pause)

 **Ranger** (hesitant): "I... don't know, yet. It was so sudden."

 **Starforce** : "You and us, both."

 **Ladyhawk** : "What about TASK FORCE?"

 **Ranger** (sighs): "You know that political cover we had in the event of a worst-case scenario as long as PRIMUS existed? Gone, as of 1400 local time this afternoon."

 **Starforce** : "Even our federal sanctioning?"

 **Ranger** : "The federal hero sanctioning program died with PRIMUS at 1400 as well." (beat) "Things happened so quickly this afternoon there was no time to even think about a transition plan with UNTIL."

 **Ladyhawk** : "We're going to be unsanctioned?"

 **Ranger** : "For at least six months. If we're lucky."

 **Starforce** : "What about the signed pardons in the Oval Office that Bush signed?"

 **Ranger** (disgusted): "I wouldn't be surprised if those got thrown away by the current President the moment he took office."

(shocked pause)

 **Ladyhawk** (sarcastically): "But remember, we're now saving the taxpayer BILLIONS by no longer duplicating services that UNTIL can provide just as well!"

 **Starforce** : "So that's it? We just give up on 9 years spent hunting down the guy impersonating my late father?"

 **Ranger** (weak smile): "I remain unconvinced by your supposed proof that we actually HAVEN'T been chasing your undead ex-Nazi mad scientist father all these years."

 **Starforce** (stuffily): "Because you aren't a musician."

(Julie rolls her eyes)

 **Ranger** : "Give me a couple of days and get back with me after Reverend Kayami returns from Mexico City."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Okay, Ted. Try not to get too drunk when you celebrate your freedom tonight."

 **Ranger** (sad smile): "Good night, guys."

* * *

(Stately Dormyer Manor Mark II, Lakewood Village, TX. 2/28/2012, approximately 3 AM)

(Julie's Danger Sense is malfunctioning again as she sleeps. Only this time, she's seeing the events of September 1944)

(From the main tunnel of the Mölke subcomplex, Starforce looks into a large vault whose ceiling appears to be a concrete door. An ornate altar with a swastika embossed in its side sits in the middle of it. A scientist in a lab coat, reading from an old book, looks up and sees Starforce. For some reason, he looks familiar)

 **Starforce** : "Du da drüben! Wer bist du?" /* You there! Who are you? */

 **Scientist** : "Albert Zerstoiten. Und sie sind..." /* And you are... */

(Starforce's eyes grow very wide behind his mask)

(From behind the rolling table to Starforce's right, Ladyhawk's Danger Sense screams. Her face pales at what is about to happen)

(Starforce raises his right hand toward the future Dr. Destroyer)

 **Starforce** (force beam warming up for discharge): "Dein Tod." /* Your death */

(at that moment, Major James Harmon III, USAAF, strides around him, pistol drawn)

 **Harmon** : "You talk too much, future man."

(before Ladyhawk can get in the way or deflect his aim, Major Harmon empties the entire clip into Dr. Zerstoiten. Zerstoiten staggers back into the altar and falls across it, mortally wounded and bleeding)

 **Zerstoiten** : "W.. Warum?" /* why? */

 **Harmon** : "I need your book."

 **Starforce** : "What the..."

(and just like that, there is nothing in the space Starforce used to occupy. Thanks to his biological father now bleeding out and dying on a profane altar 17 years before his conception, Bob Hawkins never existed)

(Ladyhawk screams)

 **Starforce** (from the bed beside her): "WHAT? WHAT'S WRONG?!?"

(Julie looks at Bob for a moment, then around herself with a crazed look in her eyes. She is now back in the Master Bedroom of Stately Dormyer Manor)

 **Starforce** (holding Julie and caressing her to calm her down): "It's okay, I'm here. Calm down!"

 **Ladyhawk** (beat, gasping): "What year?"

 **Starforce** : "End of February, 2012."

(she looks at Bob for a moment, catching her breath while still crying)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Hold me, Bob. Please hold me and don't let go!"

(he does while slowly rocking back and forth with her in his arms)

* * *

(Lakewood Village, TX. Afternoon, 2/28/2012)

(A late-model SUV makes the turn onto southbound Stowe Lane on final approach to the manor. Shina Arikawa is driving, Bob and Julie are in back)

 **Ladyhawk** : "What was that fireball at lunch?"

 **Starforce** : "A previously-unknown Apollo-group asteroid. A BIG one, too." (beat) "I checked out some astronomy blogs, and the initial track analysis says it would have impacted in the Kansas City area except for a superhero intercepting it. Further follow-up with superhero blogs said it was the hero Barnstormer."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Oh, my God."

 **Starforce** : "He didn't make it." (beat) "There HAS to be a better way to do last-minute intercepts on big asteroids than kamikaze a superhuman into them. Even *Vanguard* didn't survive doing that at Detroit."

 **Ladyhawk** : "It seems there's been a lot of weirdness the last couple of days. UNTIL's fighting *something* in the Gulf of Mexico, hushing up some big archaeological dig in Antarctica of all places, and Reverend Kayami's been jumpier than a nervous cat the past two days muttering something about 'dimensional disturbances'."

 **Starforce** : "Perhaps everyone's getting in their practice for the Mayan New Year in December?"

(Julie looks at the impish grin on Bob's face)

 **Ladyhawk** (hitting Bob softly and laughing): "Stop it!"

(The SUV turns onto the driveway)

 **Starforce** : "You needed a laugh. Especially after your nightmare last night."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Thank you."

 **Starforce** : "Wanna talk about it?"

(Julie shakes her head nervously)

(The SUV glides to a stop under the Portico. Bob gets out, helps Julie out, and they open the front door while Shina parks the SUV in the Garage)

 **Ladyhawk** : "We're home..."

(with a blur, Nathan Hawkins appears in front of his parents)

 **Nathan** : "Mom? Dad? We have a..."

(a funny-looking man in a silver lamé jumpsuit blurs and appears next to Nathan)

 **Funny-looking Man** (to Bob): "Well it's about TIME you got home from work. You should have been back 2.874365 minutes ago!"

 **Nathan** : "...problem."

(awkward pause)

 **Starforce** (slowly, to the funny-looking man): "Captain Chronos, if I remember the last update ever to the PRIMUS Superhuman Survey correctly?"

 **Captain Chronos** (offering his hand): "Yes, you do! If it isn't Dr. Robert Hawkins, the Son of Doctor Destroyer himself! I'm a big fan of what you did to terraform..." (beat, trailing off awkwardly) "Yes, well never mind."

 **Starforce** (reluctantly shaking his hand): "Thank you for not telling me what I'm going to do in my future."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Will someone PLEASE tell me what's going on here?"

 **Captain Chronos** (to Julie, abruptly breaking his handshake with Bob): "Oh! Oh! Oh!!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Oh?"

 **Captain Chronos** (visibly fanboying): "The Mother of Time Elementals? Oh, my God!!"

 **Starforce** (deadpan): "That's a new one..."

 **Captain Chronos** (vigorously pumping Julie's arm in a handshake): "I can die a fulfilled man! Oh, my God!!"

 **Ladyhawk** (breaking the handshake): "Okay, cut it out. You've now successfully crossed the line between 'creepy' and 'annoying'."

 **Captain Chronos** : "I'm so sorry, Miss Dormyer! It is SUCH an honor to meet you after reading so much about your history."

 **Starforce** : "Aaand, we've dropped right back across the line into 'creepy', again."

 **Ladyhawk** (annoyed): "It's also been 'Mrs. Hawkins' for 20 years."

 **House AI** : "Incoming call from Ted Jameson."

(Bob and Julie look at each other)

 **Starforce** (to Julie): "For the record, I was only *thinking* the line 'How could today get any weirder?'"

 **Ladyhawk** (to the ceiling): "We'll take it in the Library."

 **Starforce** (to Captain Chronos): "Excuse us."

(Bob and Julie walk off to the Library. Bob closes the door just in time to hear Julie gasp. He turns around to see Captain Chronos already in the Library with them)

 **Starforce** (angry, to Captain Chronos): "Listen, buddy. I don't care WHEN you claim you're from, you're in the 21st Century now and we like our privacy when taking personal calls. GET. OUT!"

 **Captain Chronos** (sternly): "I need to be in on this call with both of you. Trust me."

(tense pause)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Ooookay, then." (to ceiling) "Accept call"

(the flatscreen in the library wakes up. Ted looks both annoyed and like he is about to say something until he notices that there is an extra person at the Dormyer Manor end of the call)

 **Ranger** (pointing to Captain Chronos): "What is HE doing there?"

 **Starforce** (deadpan): "It was his idea."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Ted, what's wrong?"

 **Ranger** (beat): "Doctor Destroyer is making a *big* move with DEMON tomorrow in Mexico City..."

 **Captain Chronos** (interrupting): "That's not Doctor Destroyer."

(shocked pause)

 **Starforce** (small voice): "Told you."

 **Ranger** : "Then who the HELL have we been chasing the past 10 years if it wasn't Albert Zerstoiten?"

 **Captain Chronos** (sternly): "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, and I don't have the time to convince you why I'm right."

 **Ranger** : "Assuming I can trust you -- and you don't have too good a track record at being trusted, from what I remember of your file -- what are we supposed to do?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "I need you to loan me Starforce and Ladyhawk."

(tense pause)

 **Ranger** : "Why?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "To rescue the original Doctor Destroyer from where he's currently stranded."

* * *

(Laboratory Level, Stately Dormyer Manor Mark II. Two minutes later)

(The elevator doors open. Bob and Julie sprint out to the pods containing their armor and equipment. In a blur of motion, Captain Chronos appears next to them)

 **Captain Chronos** : "You've developed special weapons and tactics to take down Doctor Destroyer by now, haven't you."

 **Starforce** (suiting up): "Yes."

 **Ladyhawk** (suiting up): "We've only been wargaming and drilling their use for two years now."

 **Captain Chronos** : "Oh, thank goodness." (beat) "I promise both of you that by this time tomorrow you will get the chance to execute your battle plan for real."

 **Starforce** (suit spinning up to power): "That's reassuring. I think."

(Ladyhawk reaches into her equipment pod, grabs two odd-looking shuriken, and puts them into her Utility Belt)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Locked and loaded."

 **Starforce** (looking at his suit telltales in his VR environment): "Quantum lock generator is green. Let's do this."

 **Captain Chronos** : "Portal room guys. Now."

 **Starforce** (angry): "Hey! Only 7 people are supposed to know that room exists..."

 **Captain Chronos** (interrupting): "In *your* century."

 **Ladyhawk** (beat, heading toward the Portal room): "Don't you HATE it when he does that?"

(in a moment, they are all in the Portal room)

 **Starforce** : "It wouldn't be TOO much to ask if you have target coordinates, would it?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "30 degrees 5.3 minutes north, 80 degrees 31.3 minutes east, altitude 794 meters above sea level."

(Starforce taps the coordinates into the portal's targeting system, then looks at the results)

 **Starforce** : "Western end of the Himalayas, west of the border with Nepal..." (beat) "The computer's not taking the coordinates. It says the other end is going to come out inside solid rock."

 **Captain Chronos** (sternly): "The coordinates are *good*. Override your computer."

(beat, then Starforce sets it up again in the targeting system)

 **Starforce** (muttering): "Yes, I'm SURE I want to override auto-targeting..." (beat) "Here goes nothing. Spinning up."

(a familiar pinkish-white swirl begins to form within the portal's arch)

 **Ladyhawk** : "The portal's found a viable target if it did that, right?"

 **Starforce** : "For all I know, it's a cave deep underground that's only big enough for one of us."

 **Captain Chronos** : "Oh, for God's sake. If you're THAT nervous about my coordinates, I'm coming with you!"

(beat)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Works for me."

(Captain Chronos goes through the portal first, followed by Ladyhawk and Starforce)

* * *

**/* suggested music** : 'This is Gallifrey' by Murray Gold */

(somewhere in the Himalayas. One second later)

(Captain Chronos, Ladyhawk, and Starforce stand in a forest glade. The portal which has deposited them there collapses and vanishes behind them)

 **Starforce** (beat, using his Human Tricorder powers): "We seem to be outdoors, and the air pressure is consistent with the surface elevation coordinate he gave me."

 **Captain Chronos** : "NOW do you believe me?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "We're sorry we doubted you. Does that make you feel better?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "Yes, thank you." (beat) "Well, I've gotta go grab a bite to eat. See you in the city."

(with a blur, he is gone. Awkward pause)

 **Ladyhawk** : "That was annoying. Start us on an adventure and then abandon us."

 **Starforce** (beat): "He does have a reputation for that."

 ****(they look around themselves for a moment [[music starts](https:%20//www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMdN7yZxM3k&t=1m01s)])

 **Ladyhawk** : "Are you getting an Estes Park vibe, Nerd-boy?"

 **Starforce** : "I'm more concerned that both my onboard map and the house AI are reporting that we're entombed in several cubic miles of bedrock and granite right now."

 **Ladyhawk** : "They're both wrong, then."

 **Starforce** : "I can *see* that." (beat, looking around) "Hm. Got something on IR to our left. The signature library says it's asphalt."

 **Ladyhawk** : "What are we waiting for?"

 ****([1: 14] a moment of walking through the forest leaves them at the edge of a modern road.)

 **Starforce** (looking right): "Grab hold of me. Let's get out of the forest and see if we can get some altitude for recon."

(Ladyhawk grabs hold of Starforce from behind, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He lights his forcefield around them both and they take off flying down the highway)

 ****([1: 30] Starforce whips through some slalom curves, trees rushing past them on both sides. Ladyhawk imagines him smiling behind his faceplate, then remembers him vanishing from existence in last night's nightmare. She hugs him tighter as he flies)

(the trees start thinning as the road climbs a hill)

 **Starforce** : "FINALLY! Now we can see where we are."

(with Ladyhawk still firmly hanging on, Starforce soars into the open air like a shooting star)

 ****([1: 47] Miles away to either side, the Himalayas loom forbiddingly, their snow-capped peaks lost in the cloud cover tens of thousands of feet above even Starforce's current altitude. Waterfalls cascade off of cliff faces into sparkling lakes under a milky sky. A sparse but modern road network now spreads underneath them, punctuated by both forests and land being cultivated by futuristic equipment. Wildlife roams the land that doesn't show signs of civilization)

 **Ladyhawk** (gasping [1: 54]): "Oh, it's beautiful!"

 **Starforce** : "That explains the Estes Park vibe you were getting, Ninjette."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Getting anything on human tricorder mode?"

 **Starforce** : "We're surrounded by Destroyertech."

 **Ladyhawk** : "In the tractors below us?"

 **Starforce** : "And the two LIDARs that just painted us."

(tense pause)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Why hasn't my Danger Sense gone off?"

 **Starforce** : "They only seem interested in where we're going. I have no weapons in acquisition."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Okay, then. Where are the LIDARs?"

 **Starforce** : "I've got one in the massive rocky outcropping to our left, range 10 miles, coincident with energy signatures for zero-point energy and what the signature library wants to call theta-boson radiation but doesn't look right to me." (beat) "The other LIDAR is coming from the small city to our right."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Captain Chronos said he'd see us in the city."

 **Starforce** (banking to the right): "Who am I to fight destiny, then?"

 ****([2: 26] a moment's flight time finds them over the outskirts of a small city)

 **Ladyhawk** : "This is gonna sound weird, but the architechture sort of reminds me of the Empyrean's enclave in Arcadia."

 **Starforce** : "Perhaps there was something to the stories of Shangri-La after all."

 **Ladyhawk** (smiling): "Stop it!" (beat) "Wait, what's that statue?"

(Starforce swoops in for a closer look at the statue in front of the temple at the city's center)

 **Starforce** (in sheer disbelief): "No!"

 ****([2: 38] the statue is of Doctor Destroyer. The people in the plaza around it are now pointing up at Starforce and Ladyhawk. Their clothes are functional yet modern, and many have what appear to be smartphones which they appear to be using to take pictures)

 **Starforce** : "Danger sense gone off yet?"

 **Ladyhawk** (beat, in disbelief): "No! You'd think it would have by now."

 **Starforce** : "Well, we're not gonna get any answers hovering in mid-air like this. We're landing."

(he sets them down gently next to the statue of Destroyer. The people in the plaza are dark-haired, of Indian descent, and roughly Ladyhawk's height. The ones closest to where they landed immediately prostrate themselves)

 **Ladyhawk** : "What?"

(Captain Chronos strolls through the growing crowd congregating and prostrating themselves around Starforce and Ladyhawk)

 **Captain Chronos** (to Starforce): "Well? Aren't you going to acknowledge their worship?"

 **Starforce** (confused): "Uh, why?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "Because you're the son of their god."

* * *

(Temple of the Avatar, Nagara, Vale of Javangiri. One second later)

 **Ladyhawk** (deadpan): "Wow, Nerd-boy. The theological implications are mind-blowing."

 **Starforce** (muttered): "Not. Helping!"

(he looks at the crowd prostrate all around him)

 **Starforce** (internal monologue): [[WHAT do I do NOW?]]

(tense pause)

 **Starforce** (internal monologue): [[well, I can't speak to them if their faces are in the pavement stones now, can I?]] (verbally) "On your feet, all of you. My father did not choose you to be sheep."

(with a respectful murmur, the gathered crowd gets to their feet)

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue): [[DAMN, Nerd-boy. Try not to get into the part *too* much...]]

 **Starforce** : "I wish to speak to your leader. Where is he?"

(the crowd parts, revealing an elderly man)

 **Elderly Man** (walking up to Starforce): "Here, oh lord."

 **Starforce** : "And you are..."

 **Elderly Man** : "You are the Son of Destroyer yet do not know my name?"

 **Starforce** (deadpan): "My father didn't tell me a lot of things. The existence of your realm was one of them."

 **Elderly Man** (smiling): "I have heard the Avatar of Shiva speak at length on the gospel of Operational Security. I understand." (beat) "I am Shri Kartikeya. I speak for Albert Zerstoiten, the Avatar of Shiva, when he cannot walk among us in the Vale of Javangiri."

 **Starforce** : "How did my father discover your people?"

 **Kartikeya** : "The Avatar did not discover us, Son of Destroyer. He *chose* us. I was there when he descended from the clouds to land outside Nagara that day."

 **Starforce** : "How long ago?"

 **Kartikeya** : "It has been nearly 32 years since the Choosing."

 **Starforce** (internal monologue): [[roughly 1980]] (verbally, indicating the populace behind him) "Were you this advanced when he chose you?"

 **Kartikeya** : "We were barely able to keep ourselves alive before the Choosing. Since then, we have made great strides in but a single generation under his divine guidance."

 **Starforce** : "You have done very well under it." (beat) "Do you know where the Avatar of Shiva is currently?"

 **Kartikeya** : "We have not seen him for three years, Son of Destroyer. I was hoping *you* might give us some news of his activities."

(Ladyhawk's eyes widen)

 **Starforce** (internal monologue): [[Well, *that's* awkward]] (beat, louder) "Where was he last seen?"

(Shri Kartikeya points to the massive rocky outcropping that Starforce had scanned during his flight)

 **Kartikeya** : "Vanshakarana. Heading for his personal chambers."

 **Ladyhawk** (interrupting): "Did the Avatar of Shiva provide some means of entering his personal quarters in the event his Son needed access to them?"

 **Kartikeya** (to Ladyhawk, annoyed): "You ask this because... why?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I am the Son's consort. Where he goes, I go as well." (beat, then both katanas appear in her hands as if teleported there) "Do you have a problem with that?"

 **Starforce** (internal monologue): [[Julie, WTF?]]

(tense pause. Kartikeya looks at Starforce, who nods. Kartikeya retrieves what appears to be an access card from a lanyard under his shirt, detaches it, and holds it out for her)

 **Kartikeya** : "My apologies. The Avatar of Shiva supplied a pass-card for his personal chambers in the event his son needed access to them. I will summon transport to Vanshakarana, and we can have you there in half an hour."

(Ladyhawk sheaths her katanas, takes the pass-card, and nods to Kartikeya. He nods back, then turns around and barks orders in Hindi into a pocket radio which had been clipped to his belt)

 **Starforce** (to Ladyhawk): "What the *hell* was that all about?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I don't know if you've noticed, Nerd-boy, but these people AREN'T the ones you grew up with in that small town of yours in Indiana..."

 **Starforce** (reflexively interrupting): "Indianapolis isn't a small town."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Whatever." (beat) "Nerd-boy, they. Worship. Shiva! If you're going to be the son of their god, it wouldn't hurt you to show them a flash of divine temper sometimes!"

(an advanced SUV glides up to them silently)

 **Kartikeya** : "Your transport awaits, oh lord."

* * *

(Vanshakarana, the Vale of Javangiri. Half an hour later)

(Kartikeya, Starforce, and Ladyhawk are walking through the upper levels of Vanshakarana's technical academy, which contain administrative computers)

 **Ladyhawk** (to Kartikeya): "The laboratory facilities which you took us through are far beyond anything we have available to us."

 **Kartikeya** : "You and the Son are constrained by having to live among those outside the Vale. We will not hold it against you, my Lady."

 **Starforce** (coldly): "Good."

(they stop in front of huge armored doors)

 **Kartikeya** : "I can accompany you no further. Son of Destroyer, consort, safe journeys and victorious battles. Bring us back the Avatar of Shiva."

 **Ladyhawk** : "We will."

(Kartikeya walks off. Ladyhawk looks at the doors, then produces the pass-card Kartikeya had given her back in Nagara and waves it in front of the door. They smoothly glide open, revealing what appears to be a travel pod with seats)

 **Starforce** : "Oookay, then."

(they sit down next to each other. The doors smoothly glide shut, and a slight jerk is the only sign that they have started moving)

 **Starforce** (absently): "Gotta be electrogravitic. We're experiencing no inertial effects."

(there is a blinding flash! -- and Captain Chronos is sharing the elevator ride with them)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Damn, that's annoying!"

 **Captain Chronos** : "On the contrary. It is a most efficient use of my time and powers to avoid the more boring moments of your personal histories."

 **Starforce** (deadpan AND annoyed): "You're using your powers of space-time manipulation like they were DVR controls."

 **Captain Chronos** (lunatic smile): "I know! Isn't it great?"

(awkward pause)

 **Starforce** (to Ladyhawk): "If you need an alibi, I'll provide one. Nobody will miss him."

 **Captain Chronos** : "You COMPLETELY missed the vital clue which the town elder gave you in the temple plaza?"

 **Starforce** : "What, other than when he told us he last saw Doctor Destroyer alive 17 years after his death? Yes."

 **Captain Chronos** (sighs): "That was the clue."

 **Ladyhawk** : "But that's impossible! We were both at Detroit! He KILLED himself right in front of us with an orbital death-ray!"

 **Captain Chronos** : "But obviously, he didn't if he was seen HERE in 2009!" (to Starforce) "You of ALL people should have been able to analyze the beam that struck Ground Zero that morning in 1992!"

 **Starforce** (deadpan): "We were all kind of busy diving for cover at that moment."

 ****(the elevator jerks slightly, the only sign that it has come to a stop. The doors open, revealing a room which would look more at home on a set of _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ ['Book of the Destroyer', page 178, map key #17]. Straight ahead of them appears to be ornate personal quarters, while a futuristic corridor appears to go off to the right)

 **Captain Chronos** : "To the right, people!"

(they walk past laboratories on both sides more advanced than those which they had seen earlier in the Javangirian's technical academy far below)

 **Starforce** : "That theta-boson source I ID'ed during our flight is getting much stronger now."

 **Captain Chronos** : "That's where we're heading."

(they finally stop in front of a massively-reinforced door, in front of which a forcefield glows)

 **Captain Chronos** : "The card reader's on the right."

(beat, then Ladyhawk nods. She takes the pass-card out of her utility belt again and waves it at the box indicated by Captain Chronos. The forcefield fades, then the door swings ponderously open)

(they all walk into what at first glance appears to be a replica of the portal room underneath Stately Dormyer Manor, only twice the size. Dominating the lab is a large, raised metallic platform that supports two high-tech pillars that curve toward one another)

 **Starforce** (looking at the pillars and cycling through spectral filters in his VR environment): "The signature library keeps wanting to say theta-boson radiation, but there's something *not* *right* about the spectrum from those things!"

 **Ladyhawk** (by what looks to be a control console): "Nerd-boy! Over here!"

(Starforce flash-steps next to Ladyhawk. She is already playing with the console)

 **Starforce** : "Ninjette! Don't mess with that..."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Relax, Nerd-boy, it's just like the portal generator back home!" (beat, tap tap tap) "That should be the usage log."

 **Starforce** (reading): "Hm. Look at the entries for 2009. Looks to me like a very hurried and MAJOR overhaul took place, followed by a single usage..."

(beat, then if his faceplate had been open both Ladyhawk and Captain Chronos would have seen his jaw drop open in shock)

 **Starforce** (shocked): "Oh, my God! He used FOUR coordinates for his last usage!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Why? You only need THREE to establish a portal..."

 **Starforce** : "The fourth coordinate is TIME!"

(shocked pause)

 **Ladyhawk** : "To where -- or when did he go?"

 **Starforce** (looking at the log, muttering): "33 degrees 39.1 minutes north, 106 degrees 29.6 minutes west, elevation 1500 meters..." (beat, absently) "You know, I really should know where that is."

 **Ladyhawk** : "The big negative number is obviously the time coordinate, then?"

 **Starforce** : "Yeah, probably number of seconds between the portal entrance and exit." (beat, Lightning Calculator mode) "...which if true would be roughly 23 years and change..." (beat, more Lightning Calculator mode) "...which with THAT initiation timestamp would put the portal's exit in April of 1986..."

(he trails off. Starforce and Ladyhawk look at each other)

 **Ladyhawk/Starforce** : "THE BATTLE OF TRINITY SITE!" */ "The Paradox of Doctor Destroyer" */

 **Ladyhawk** (excited): "Oh, my God! What happened then makes SO much sense, now! Shadow Destroyer came through to try and stop the 1986 Doctor Destroyer from using Die Glocke!"

 **Starforce** (excited): "And the THIRD Destroyer that showed up was OUR Destroyer from 2009, trying to *stop* Shadow Destroyer!"

 **Captain Chronos** : "I think you know what you need to do, now. Bye!"

(with a blinding flash! -- he is gone)

 **Starforce** (beat): "You're right. That IS annoying."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Come on, Nerd-boy. Let's get this thing configured and retrieve Doctor Destroyer."

 **Starforce** (in lightning calculator mode): "Okay, now. Let's correct for the fact that our end is now February 29th, 2012 and not July 2009..."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Wait. Not the 28th?"

 **Starforce** : "We crossed the International Date Line when we portaled here."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Oh."

 **Starforce** (muttering while in Lightning Calculator mode): "...now subtract 15 minutes so we don't appear in the middle of his duel with Shadow Destroyer or meet ourselves..."

(tap tap tap tap)

 **Starforce** (finishing with entering the space-time coordinates): "THERE!"

(the targeting computer thinks for a moment, then flashes green)

 **Ladyhawk** : "It took the coordinates! Let's spin her up..."

(she moves the lever forward. Between the high-tech pillars, a familiar pinkish-white swirl begins to form. The other side appears to be some sort of desert, with a lone figure in a familiar-looking suit of powered armor standing with his back to the portal)

(beat)

 **Ladyhawk** : "He should have seen the portal by now. WHY is he just standing there?"

 **Starforce** (sighing): "Oh, just GREAT."

(he jumps up onto the platform and leans through the portal into the April 1986 end. Doctor Destroyer is impassively watching the southern horizon. Starforce rapidly cycles through spectral filters in that direction, and picks up multiple helicopters inbound)

 **Starforce** (internal monologue): [[That must be the PRIMUS assault that Julie had Nebula call in on the Trinity Site]]

(Bob looks around the portal, comparing what he is seeing to what he remembered from 26 years previously)

 **Starforce** (internal monologue): [[Wow. Between TASK FORCE and the duel with Shadow Destroyer there's not a whole lot left!]]

 **Dr. Destroyer** (not turning around): "Aren't you going to say anything, Dr. Hawkins?"

 **Starforce** : "As a matter of fact, I am." (beat, extends an arm toward Destroyer) "Come with me if you want to live."

(beat)

 **Dr. Destroyer** (taking Starforce's arm): "And the circle is finally complete."

(Starforce pulls Doctor Destroyer through the portal)

* * *

(Vanshakarana, the Vale of Javangiri. Half an hour later)

(Bob steps out of the guest quarters wearing a black achkan jacket with silver embroidery over a black Nehru shirt and black pants as a Destroid waits on him. He holds his hand out, and Julie joins him wearing a red sari with gold embroidery that shows her midriff)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Your father may be a megalomaniac, but at least he's a STYLISH megalomaniac." 

**Starforce** : "I'll make sure to tell him that."

 **Ladyhawk** (wiggling around in her sari): "It actually feels more comfortable than a kimono, once you get the hang of it."

 **Destroid** : "This way, please."

(Bob and Julie follow the Destroid down an opulent hallway before stopping in front of double teak doors guarded by two more Destroids)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Does he expect us to swear fealty to him? After *we* saved him from 1986?"

 **Starforce** : "Right now, I believe he expects us to dine." (beat) "It's not the first time he's done this to me." /* "Patron of the Arts", "Operation Phoenix" */

 **Ladyhawk** : "Speak for yourself."

(Two Destroids open the doors to the banquet hall and they enter)

(Doctor Destroyer has his helmet off as Bob and Julie walk to the table. Julie notes that he looks like a much, MUCH older version of Bob, with an ugly burn across one cheek. Where humor sparkles in Bob's eyes, Julie sees only cruel malignancy in Destroyer's)

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "I should be upset that I have lost three years from the time I set forth to deal with my impostor to this day, but Destroyer... appreciates your assistance. Allow me to express my gratitude by offering you places at my dinner table."

 **Ladyhawk/Starforce** : "Thank you."

(Bob helps Julie into her seat, then he sits to her left. Destroyer nods, and a squad of Destroids carries in assorted fruits and what appears to be a roasted turkey-sized bird which smells of garlic and other spices)

 **Ladyhawk** (smelling the food): "Oh, my stomach's growling already."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Please. Tell the Destroids what you want and how much."

(everyone starts eating after they are served)

 **Dr. Destroyer** (beat): "So how did you figure out that I was still alive?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Honestly? We didn't know until Captain Chronos told us earlier today."

 **Starforce** : "I've been pretty sure for years, though, that Shadow Destroyer was NOT you returned from the dead."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "You MAY have just redeemed your appalling lack of intelligence, Dr. Hawkins. How so?"

 **Starforce** : "Shadow Destroyer was tone-deaf, and couldn't carry a tune if he had a full-powered tractor beam."

(a faint smile hovers on Destroyer's lips)

 **Ladyhawk** : "There's something I don't understand about all this. If you faked your death all those years ago, why did you send Ner... my husband your entire technical database?"

 **Dr. Destroyer** (nodding): "A good question, Frau Hawkins."

 **Ladyhawk** (yawning): "Excuse me. Is there an answer to it?"

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "There are several, actually." (beat, takes a drink) "First, I did it as a challenge to myself. Knowing that the rest of the world in general and Dr. Hawkins specifically would be frantically trying to catch up to where I had been in 1992 would force me to heights of scientific and technical achievement even greater than I had already reached!"

 **Starforce** (quick yawn): "That's SICK!"

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "What is achievement without challenge?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "What about all the trouble we've faced at the hands of our own government and UNTIL?"

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "A test." (to Bob) "If you truly WERE my son, you would overcome those obstacles."

 **Starforce** (deadpan): "Glad I could make you proud, Dad."

 **Ladyhawk** (making her Deduction roll): "So you were the one who had the results of his genetic testing leaked to the press?"

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Very good, Frau Hawkins!" (beat) "I could not forsee exactly what form your troubles would take when I started those events in motion, but Destroyer guided subsequent events so that I would win regardless of whether or not your husband DID."

(awkward pause)

 **Starforce** : "This food is really quite good. My compliments to the chef."

 **Ladyhawk** : "I agree." (beat, yawns) "Sir, I know how these things are supposed to work. You've showed your gratitude for our rescue. What do you want from us in return?"

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Only one small thing from both of you."

 **Starforce** (yawning): "And that would be..."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Your Varanyi medical nanotechnology."

(tense pause. Suddenly, neither Bob nor Julie feel tired anymore)

 **Ladyhawk** : "You could have gotten it a lot easier by cutting a check to the Fuseli clinic."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "What your friend sells are but pale imitations of what was originally placed into your blood on the Varanyi homeworld. I require the original technology if I am to successfully adapt it to my body."

 **Starforce** : "Fine. If you're that desperate I can give you a blood sample. Problem solved."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "I will require all your nanorobots, mein Herr. And all those of your lovely wife as well." (beat) "I anticipate requiring a lot of experimentation."

 **Ladyhawk** : "You... MONSTER! After all the effort we made to rescue you from the past!"

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "It is nothing personal, Frau Hawkins. In fact, because you DID rescue me I have been *trying* to be quite humane about it all dinner."

(tense pause)

 **Ladyhawk** : "You drugged our meals, didn't you?"

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "With enough advanced neurotoxin that you both should have fallen unconscious minutes ago." (beat, musing) "Varanyi medical nanotechnology must be more capable than I had originally assumed."

 **Starforce** (deadpan): "That's a relief. I thought that was the tryptophan I was feeling..."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Sarcasm will not spare you from your ultimate fate, Dr. Hawkins." (standing and gesturing toward the door) "What Destroyer tried to achieve humanely, he must now take by force!"

(Captain Chronos blurs and strides into the banquet hall)

 **Captain Chronos** : "Not while I'm present."

(Doctor Destroyer continues to gesture toward the door. Nothing happens)

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "You costumed BUFFOON! WHAT have you done to my Destroids?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "Frozen in a moment of time. Where they will remain until I say otherwise."

 **Dr. Destroyer** (Destroyer-beam building to discharge): "How DARE you defy Destroyer in his own FORTRESS!"

(Captain Chronos idly waves his right hand. The 30d6 Destroyer-beam that springs from Destroyer's gauntlet vanishes into a swirling pinkish distortion)

 **Captain Chronos** : "Are you QUITE through yet, or would you like to monologue some more?"

 **Starforce** (murmuring to Julie): "*Really* wishing we had popcorn right about now."

(Julie instinctively mouths 'Stop it', more fascinated by what is happening in front of them)

(Doctor Destroyer glares furiously at Captain Chronos before lowering his right arm)

 **Captain Chronos** : "Thank you. Your son and the Mother of Time Elementals are under MY protection. Before this day is done, Albert Zerstoiten, you will thank me for that."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "I sincerely doubt it."

 **Captain Chronos** : "Oh, but you will."

(tense pause)

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "And just WHAT would Destroyer be doing that requires the assistance of lesser ones such as my son and his wife?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "Making history."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Bah! Destroyer has made history simply by EXISTING!"

 **Captain Chronos** : "True." (beat) "But now, history demands that you become something you have never been in your life."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "What would that be?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "A hero."

* * *

(Main Banquet Hall, Vanshakarana. One second later)

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "And people say that MY great power has driven me insane. A HERO?!?"

 **Starforce** : "Don't worry. We're having problems believing that ourselves over here."

(Julie elbows Bob in the ribs)

 **Dr. Destroyer** (menacing whisper): "Silence."

 **Ladyhawk** (to Captain Chronos): "What do we need to do?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "Before I do that, I need to know how much you understand of what has been going on with Doctor Destroyer."

 **Starforce** : "Our Destroyer faked his death in 1992, for starters. Probably by multiplexing a quantum-displacement teleporter with the Zeta Beam he used on Detroit." /* "The Battle of Detroit" */

(Doctor Destroyer nods in approval)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Then in 2002, an alternate-universe version of him started masquerading as the original by claiming to have risen from the dead." /* "Return of the Destroyer" */

(Doctor Destroyer nods in approval)

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "I remained in hiding, subtly guiding the efforts of those who would oppose the impostor until an opportunity arose for me to attack him in the past."

 **Starforce** : "Which didn't work out so well for either of them."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "I drove the impostor off in 1986, but that coward broke my recall device." /* "The Great Stronghold Breakout" */

 **Captain Chronos** (nodding): "What all of you know is true but incomplete. Allow me to correct that before I explain what must be done."

(Doctor Destroyer sits down and motions for Captain Chronos to continue)

 **Captain Chronos** : "First, Shadow Destroyer is the industrialist James Harmon III. Or more accurately, what he will have turned into if the point of departure between his history and yours is left undisturbed."

(Julie's eyes widen in horror, and she gasps involuntarily)

 **Captain Chronos** (to Julie): "You have seen it happen in your dreams, have you not?"

(Julie nods, eyes still wide with horror)

 **Starforce** (to Julie): "That was your nightmare last night?"

(Julie nods)

 **Starforce** : "What did you see?"

 **Ladyhawk** (beat, nervously): "We... we were infiltrating Der Riese in 1944 to find Die Glocke and return to our time. What I saw took place in the flying saucer hangar, but instead of a saucer there was a... some sort of altar in it." (shakes her head) "It was sickening to look at."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Go on, Frau Hawkins."

 **Ladyhawk** (to Dr. Destroyer): "You were there, too, only you were reading some ancient book."

 **Starforce** : "That's not what happened..." /* "Greatest Generation" */

 **Dr. Destroyer** (to Bob): "Let her finish."

 **Ladyhawk** : "The encounter went pretty much like the one we lived through went, except that before I could get in Starforce's way to keep him from killing you Major Harmon walks past him and unloads his service pistol into you!"

(Doctor Destroyer is silent)

 **Ladyhawk** (continuing, almost babbling): "You fell back on the altar, dying, and... and... and then Bob never existed!"

(with a wail, she collapses into Bob's arms, sobbing. Bob and Doctor Destroyer look at each other for a long moment)

 **Starforce** (quietly): "We have to keep that from happening."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Agreed." (beat, to Captain Chronos) "What do we need to do?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "You will need to go back in time to the original point of departure between his timeline and yours, then advance forward along Shadow Destroyer's timeline until you reach his version of September 1944 in Der Riese."

(Bob misses an INT roll, which isn't too surprising given the nature of the revelations in the past few minutes)

 **Starforce** : "But that would mean the original point of departure was before September of 1944!"

 **Captain Chronos** : "It is! Why are you confused?"

 **Starforce** : "Because Shadow Destroyer attacked us all at Trinity in 1986. Doesn't that mean the Point of Departure was TASK FORCE's original trip to 1944?"

 **Dr. Destroyer** (contemptuously): "That's when HE thought it was."

 **Captain Chronos** : "Correct. The actual point of departure between his reality and yours lies in an obscure bookstore in Paris, France on February 29th, 1896."

 **Ladyhawk** (recovered from describing her vision): "Why there and then?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "In your history, a man known as The Edomite will find a book of foul sorcery called the 'Liber Terribilis'."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "The Foul Master of DEMON." (to Bob and Julie) "TASK FORCE should have let me kill them all when I had the chance 30 years ago." /* 'The Evil of Doctor Destroyer' */

 **Captain Chronos** : "In James Harmon's history, The Edomite does NOT find the 'Liber Terribilis'. Instead, it finds its way into Nazi Germany, then to the advanced occult research laboratory at Der Riese where Major Harmon rips it out of Albert Zerstoiten's dying hands."

 **Starforce** : "Does it really matter whose hands that book is in? The Edomite has done some pretty horrific things with it in our history."

 **Captain Chronos** : "What The Edomite has done to your history pales in comparison to what James Harmon did to HIS."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Try us."

 **Captain Chronos** : "James Harmon's 2012 is an Edomic hellhole far beyond the fever-dreams or imaginings of the most depraved occult scholar." (beat) "And he stands above it all as its king."

(tense and horrified pause)

 **Captain Chronos** : "Your mission, whether any of you will accept it or not, is to steal the 'Liber Terribilis' from James Harmon's reality and make it available in 1896 to create YOUR reality."

* * *

(Stately Dormyer Manor Mark II. late night, 2/28/2012)

(a mission pre-brief is taking place in the labs underneath the Manor)

 **Grandfather** : "Captain Chronos took them WHERE?"

 **Ranger** : "Portal coordinates were set for someplace in the Western Himalayas when I checked them. Auto-targeting reported the exit portal should have emerged inside solid rock, but it had been overridden and three people transited."

 **Grandfather** : "And you're *sure* he was taking them to rescue Doctor Destroyer?"

 **Ranger** : "His words, not mine."

 **Ghostbane** : "But he's going to be in Mexico City tomorrow!"

 **Ranger** (sighs): "That's the interesting part." (beat) "According to Captain Chronos, the Doctor Destroyer we have been pursuing for the past ten years is *not* the real Doctor Destroyer."

 **Thelambra** : "Just like Robert has been insisting for years."

 **Ghostbane** : "Then who IS the Doctor Destroyer we've been after?"

(awkward pause)

 **Ranger** : "I don't know. Hopefully, Bob and Julie will have some answers for us if and when they get back."

 **Grandfather** : "Those answers may not be of much assistance, because we have bigger problems on our hands than a possible multiplicity of Doctors Destroyer."

 **Ranger** : "Explain."

 **Grandfather** : "First problem. Agents of the Trismegistus Council raided an extra-dimensional space coincident with the Las Vegas Strip two weeks ago. It appears to have been the headquarters of the mystic supervillain known as The Edomite."

 **Thelambra** : "That name has come up sometimes during our investigation of Doctor Destroyer."

 **Grandfather** : "Much information was recovered from The Edomite's pocket universe, especially in the form of an ancient book called the 'Liber Terribilis'. To summarize their findings, The Edomite intends to lead a magical ritual tomorrow on top of the Pyramid of the Sun outside of Mexico City. Said ritual is intended to breach the barriers which normally exist between our worlds and the Qliphotic Realms and turn himself into a Qliphotic god."

 **Ghostbane** : "Wait. That's what Doctor Destroyer was going to do tomorrow, wasn't it?"

 **Grandfather** : "There appears to have been a power struggle in the top echeleons of DEMON since... the other Doctor Destroyer's appearance."

 **Ranger** : "Great. There's going to be a three-way battle at the ritual site tomorrow."

 **Grandfather** : "The Pyramid of the Sun is but the focusing agent for the ritual tomorrow. The ritual itself will be world-wide."

(shocked pause)

 **Ghostbane** : "We can't be everywhere at once!"

 **Grandfather** : "Fortunately, we don't need to be. Once the Trismegistus Council understood the full extent of The Edomite's plan, they immediately contacted both UNTIL *and* VIPER. VIPER will be dealing with the lowest level of the ritual tomorrow, which involves Demonhames world-wide going on killing rampages to provide the raw fuel needed to achieve the dimensional breach. UNTIL has been disrupting as much of the prophesized pre-ritual happenings as they can."

 **Thelambra** : "The events in Antarctica and the Gulf of Mexico?"

 **Grandfather** : "Yes."

 **Ranger** : "Okay then. We're back to worrying about what happens at the Pyramid of the Sun tomorrow."

 **Thelambra** : "Wait. You implied earlier that there might be another problem on our hands?"

 **Grandfater** : "Yes. There is a weakness in the boundaries that normally separate our Universe from the Qliphotic Realms which has never been there before."

 **Ranger** (beat): "Could you be more specific?"

 **Grandfather** : "It... is almost like a paradox of some sort is about to happen. A paradox which will unravel those boundaries and catapult our world into an eldritch nightmare unlike anything ever before seen even without the influence of The Edomite's ritual."

 **Ranger** : "Aren't paradoxes temporal in nature, not dimensional?"

 **Grandfather** : "Yes." (beat) "Now consider Captain Chronos' rather abrupt request for the services of Starforce and Ladyhawk earlier today."

(beat)

 **Ranger** : "Oh. Crap."

 **Grandfather** : "Yeah."

* * *

(Somewhere near the Quartier St. Roch, Paris, France. After midnight, February 29th, 1896)

(a pinkish-white swirl of energy appears in a back alley. Doctor Destroyer, Ladyhawk, Starforce, and Captain Chronos step through)

 **Captain Chronos** : "Crude, but effective."

 **Doctor Destroyer** : "You would prefer I analyze your technology and dissect you to come up with a more pleasing method of temporal transport?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Children? Play nice, or not at all."

(they move to the end of the alley and look out into the street. A decrepit bookstore occupies a storefront on the other side)

 **Captain Chronos** (indicating the bookstore): "The point of departure between your history and Shadow Destroyer's."

(a dapper-looking man in a top hat with a silver-headed cane walks casually down the street)

 **Captain Chronos** : "And right on schedule, Mr. Black. The Edomite."

(beat, while the dapper-looking man enters the bookstore)

 **Ladyhawk** : "He's here in the 19th century and still lives in the 21st. Is he immortal?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "Not exactly." (beat) "He was originally born on February 29th, 1732. His mother cast a powerful enchantment upon him which fated him to celebrate only 70 birthdays."

 **Starforce** : "His 70th birthday being..." (beat, Lightning Calculator Mode) "...February 29th, 2012?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "Precisely."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "And people wonder why I DETEST magic..."

(Another moment passes silently, then the dapper-looking man leaves the bookstore empty-handed. He does not look happy)

(the holographic windows above the computer deck on Captain Chronos' left arm clear, rearrange, and data streams across them. He examines them for a moment)

 **Captain Chronos** : "And we are now officially in James Harmon's timeline."

(tense pause)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Let's do this."

 **Captain Chronos** (working the computer deck and analyzing its output): "Get close, everyone. We're about to jump."

* * *

(Mölke subcomplex, Der Riese. September 6th, 1944, Multifarian timeline)

(There is a blinding flash! -- and Captain Chronos, Doctor Destroyer, Ladyhawk, and Starforce appear)

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Haupttunnel Mölke. Perfect."

(Starforce rapidly switches through spectral filters in his VR environment)

 **Starforce** (whispered): "Aw, CRAP! Point source of magnetic monopoles just showed up at the far end of the hall!" (beat) "Guess who *that* is?"

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "That may actually work to our advantage, meine damen und herren. If history is proceeding the way it did in Frau Hawkins' vision, the 'Liber Terribilis' must already be in Unterirdischen Forschungs Hangar #3."

 **Ladyhawk** : "How close?"

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "We're most of the way toward the Die Glockegewölbe end of the Haupttunnel. 50 meters ahead and to the right."

 **Captain Chronos** : "Wait one."

(Both Starforce and Doctor Destroyer observe a flare of power from him)

 **Captain Chronos** : "Okay, let's go."

(beat, while they walk down the Haupttunnel)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Why does the air look funny?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "I've stopped time for everyone except us."

 **Starforce** : "Is this what it's like for Ranger when he's in the Speed Zone?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "His powers are primitive compared to what the Mother of Time Elementals' descendants will be able to achieve someday."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Like Nathan and Laura can?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "They are but the first generation to express your latent mutation into something more operant."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "We're here."

(they walk into what in their timeline was the flying saucer hangar at Der Riese. It is set up exactly as it was in Ladyhawk's dream. A young Albert Zerstoiten is frozen in a moment of time holding an ancient book in his hands which makes everyone's skin crawl. Behind a rolling table to the right a younger Ladyhawk sans katanas is frozen in a moment of time hiding)

(everyone else looks at the Multifarian!Ladyhawk, then at their Ladyhawk)

 **Ladyhawk** (shrugging her shoulders): "I'm a ninja, boys. That's all you need to know."

 **Starforce** : "Okay, then. Let's grab the book and get back to 1896 Paris..."

 **Ladyhawk** (firmly): "No."

(awkward pause)

 **Starforce** : "What?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "We *have* to keep my vision from happening."

 **Starforce** : "WHAT?!?

 **Ladyhawk** : "Bob, it was bad enough seeing you erased from history in a dream. I can't bear the thought of seeing it happen in front of me for REAL!"

 **Starforce** : "It's an alternate timeline version of me! I'll still BE here!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I DON'T CARE! I WON'T let it happen again! I CAN'T let it HAPPEN AGAIN!!"

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "She has a point."

 **Starforce** (jabbing Dr. Destroyer with a finger): "Stay out of this!"

(beat, then Destroyer calmly removes Starforce's finger from the chestpiece of his armor)

 **Dr. Destroyer** (menacing): "Do not touch me again, Dr. Hawkins, unless you intend to attack Destroyer." (beat, more reasonable voice) "Besides, we're travelling through time, mein herr. It doesn't MATTER how much time we take here at Der Riese."

 **Starforce** : "If we take the book back RIGHT NOW, HER VISION WILL NEVER HAVE HAPPENED AT ALL!! You don't NEED to be a Nobel Laureate to UNDERSTAND THAT!!"

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "*I* agree with your wife. We need to keep her vision from happening."

 **Starforce** (muttering): "I've died, gone to Hell, and my punishment is to be surrounded by IDIOTS!"

(tense pause. Everyone looks at each other)

 **Starforce** (through clenched teeth): "Fine! But if things go south on us all, I told you so."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Excellent." (to Captain Chronos) "Can you bring my younger self into our time bubble?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "Yes."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "We'll need his clothes. Dr. Hawkins, you will need to impersonate my younger self when your alternate self enters."

 **Starforce** (shaking his head): "I don't believe I'm agreeing to this..."

 **Dr. Destroyer** (to Captain Chronos): "Is there some way you can manipulate the flow of time so that yourself, Frau Hawkins, and my younger self aren't seen by the younger Starforce and Ladyhawk?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "I can keep us all one second out of synch with the events as they happen."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Do that."

 **Starforce** : "Just so I understand what you expect ME to do, you intend to save the alternate timeline version of myself by having Major Harmon kill *me* while I'm not wearing my battlesuit?"

(Ladyhawk looks up, alarmed)

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Leave Major Harmon to me."

* * *

(Unterirdischen Forschungs Hangar #3, Mölke subcomplex, Der Riese)

(Starforce is now dressed as Multifarian!Albert Zerstoiten, his back toward where Multifarian!Ladyhawk is hiding behind a rolling table. He is looking at the 'Liber Terribilis' in his hands. Something in the back of his head is trying to convince him to open the book)

 **Starforce** (internal monologue): [[my skin is CRAWLING just looking at this book's cover. WHY do I have to *touch* it as well?]]

(the compulsion to open the book and read it is growing)

 **Starforce** (muttered to the book): "Nein, verdammt!"

(he hears the sound of a boot treading behind him, and a sharp intake of breath. Turning around, he sees himself in the Mark 2a battlesuit he wore in the mid-1980s)

 **Starforce** (internal monologue): [[damn that's spooky]]

 **Multifarian!Starforce** : "Du da drüben! Wer bist du?"

 **Starforce** (playing his part): "Albert Zerstoiten. Und Sie sind?"

(Multifarian!Starforce raises his right arm. Bob is staring at his own forcebeam projector building up for discharge. There is a frantic scramble of activity behind the rolling table to his left, and Multifarian!Ladyhawk stands up)

 **Multifarian!Starforce** : "Dein Tod."

(before Multifarian!Ladyhawk can get in the way, she is roughly shoved aside by Major Harmon as he strides around Multifarian!Starforce)

 **Harmon** (pulling service pistol): "You talk too much, future man."

 **Starforce** (internal monologue): [[oh, shit]]

(he looks *right* *at* the muzzle flashes as Major Harmon empties his pistol at him. The bullets all bounce off of something invisible 3 feet in front of him. The air then swims and blurs in that location, and Doctor Destroyer becomes visible)

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Goodbye, James Harmon. It will be a pleasure not to ever have to fight you."

(Destroyer fires a 20d6 APx2 Destroyer-Beam at Major Harmon. Harmon falls dead, a fist-size hole blown completely through his chest. Shocked pause, punctuated only by Destroyer using his secondary weapons array to immobilize Multifarian!Starforce)

 **Dr. Destroyer** (to Multifarian!Ladyhawk): "Your energies, Fraulein Dormyer, would best be spent helping your boyfriend instead of the exercise in futility in which you are about to embark."

(Multifarian!Ladyhawk stops her windup in shock, three shuriken still in her hand)

 **Multifarian!Ladyhawk** : "He's not my boyfriend..."

 **Dr. Destroyer** (to Starforce): "Come, mein Herr. We have a book to return."

* * *

(Unterirdischen Forschungs Hangar #3, Mölke subcomplex, Der Riese. Two minutes later)

(There are sounds of combat echoing from deeper in the subcomplex as TASK FORCE mows through the SS company between them and Die Glocke. Starforce is back in his battlesuit. Captain Chronos is visibly angry, most of the holographic windows above the computer deck on his left arm blinking an angry red)

 **Captain Chronos** (to Dr. Destroyer): "Quite the paradox you initiated, Dr. Zerstoiten."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Thank you."

 **Captain Chronos** : "That wasn't a compliment." (beat, screaming) "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO THE SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM?"

 **Dr. Destroyer** (menacing): "Have a care how you address Destroyer, you clown. My impostor is no more."

 **Captain Chronos** (through clenched teeth): "Your impostor is *still* *alive*."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "That's impossible."

 **Captain Chronos** : "Normally, I'd agree with you. Shadow Destroyer, unfortunately, is intimately and psychically linked to a KING OF EDOM!"

 **Ladyhawk/Starforce** : "WHAT?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "His link to Deizzorath through the Crown of Night is the *only* thing keeping him alive right now in OUR 2012! What do you think the paradox of his continued existence is doing to the FABRIC OF OUR REALITY?"

(Doctor Destroyer is speechless)

 **Captain Chronos** : "Right now, every SECOND that James Harmon III lives ERODES the barriers between our universe and the Qliphotic Realms! By nightfall, all Earth will be a Qliphotic Realm itself without any assistance from The Edomite or his ritual!" (beat) "You named yourself far better than you ever realized, Albert Zerstoiten. You've managed the destruction of all Reality!"

(Ladyhawk puts a hand over her mouth in horror. If they had gone with Starforce's plan instead of hers, they wouldn't *be* in this perdicament)

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "If we did not need your help to return to our history, you would lie dead at Destroyer's feet. And I would enjoy it."

(Starforce has had enough. He walks between Captain Chronos and Doctor Destroyer and puts a hand on each of their shoulders)

 **Starforce** (coldly): "Guys? Your length-measuring contest isn't going to save Reality."

(both Captain Chronos and Doctor Destroyer glare at Starforce)

 **Starforce** (to Captain Chronos): "Am I correct in assuming the only thing that will save us now is to *kill* Shadow Destroyer at the ritual site?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "Yes."

 **Starforce** : "Then the sooner we can re-visit 1896 and drop that book off where it needs to go, the sooner we can fix the damage my father has caused. Right?"

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Do not think our ties of blood will save you once this day is over, Dr. Hawkins."

 **Starforce** (to Dr. Destroyer): "Tell you what. If you *really* think that you're man enough to kill me, you're welcome to try." (beat) "AFTER we kill Shadow Destroyer."

(tense pause)

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue): [[Julie, don't panic. He's provoking his father so we can take him down should we survive today]]

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "You truly *are* worthy to be Destroyer's son. It will be my honor to kill you then."

* * *

(Pyramid of the Sun, Ruins of Teotihuacan, MX, main timeline. After midnight, 2/29/2012)

(The Justice Squadron and the Champions have made a hurried encampment on the Street of the Dead at the Pyramid's base. A glowing forcewall surrounds them, which is patrolled by DEMON initiates outside its perimeter)

(Champions team leader Defender walks up to where Justice Squadron team leader Blink is resting, still exhausted)

 **Defender** : "How bad?"

 **Blink** : "We lost Flashover, and Superstar is wounded."

 **Defender** : "Sapphire and Kinetik are wounded at our end."

 **Blink** : "What about Nightwind?"

(Defender shakes his head)

 **Blink** : "Damn." (beat) "Any chance for reinforcements? From anywhere?"

(a pinkish swirl begins to form off to one side)

 **Brawler** : "Another illusion from the Black Shepherd?"

 **The Drifter** : "Not this time."

 **Defender** : "Whatever it is, it's radiating theta-bosons."

 **Blink** : "The wormhole-stabilizing particle?"

(Ranger, Thelambra, Grandfater, and Ghostbane step through, and the portal collapses behind them. Tense pause)

 **Defender** (to Ranger): "Who are you people?"

 **Ranger** : "You know those rumors of that off-the-books superteam the United States Government was supposedly running for the past ten years?"

(beat, then Ranger takes his mask off. Gasps from the conscious superheroes)

 **Ranger** (continuing): "They were true."

 **The Drifter** (smiling): "General Jameson. A VERY welcome surprise!"

 **Defender** : "According to rumor, your team was formed to combat Doctor Destroyer."

 **Ranger** : "Which until PRIMUS was disbanded at the end of September we were doing." (beat) "We're up to speed on what The Edomite will be attempting here today. We're here to stop it."

 **Blink** : "What about Doctor Destroyer? Isn't he supposed to show up to hijack the ritual?"

 **Ranger** : "Captain Chronos... appropriated Ladyhawk and Starforce yesterday on a Doctor Destroyer-related mission. (beat, sighs) "It's complicated."

 **Defender** : "Can we expect any more help?"

 **Ranger** : "I placed some calls. Tetsuronin and Robert Caliburn should be here sometime tonight, and I'm told Aquarius will be here by dawn."

 **Blink** : "Aquarius? The British supervillain who claims he's the rightful King of England?"

 **Ranger** : "Who has a history of fighting ALONGSIDE heroes in situations like ours." (beat) "If any of you have a problem with that, take it up with Her Majesty's Deputy Minister for Superhuman Affairs. He made that call after I talked with him."

 **Brawler** : "Which still doesn't solve the problem of DEMON's Inverted Trinity out there."

 **Ranger** (indicating the base camp with exhausted, wounded, and dead superheroes): "They did this to you?"

 **Defender** : "Yes. We were able to knock the Left Hand out of the fight, but he was teleported away. Given his powers, we expect him to be back. We can't even TOUCH Jack Fool when we can find him. The Black Shepherd has been the worst of them, with his psionics, teleportation, and phasing powers."

(Ranger nods, then thinks a moment)

 **Ranger** : "Drifter, can you allow Black Shepherd in, then suppress his phasing powers?"

 **Drifter** : "Briefly."

 **Ranger** : "For what I'm planning, we'll only need ten seconds at most. Let him in, then do that AND block his ability to teleport back out."

 **Blink** : "That'll probably let Jack Fool in as well."

 **Ranger** (to Tomahawk): "The intel on him said that his powers are luck-based, right?"

 **Tomahawk** (patting his medicine pouch): "The assassin is mine."

 **Brawler** : "I think he almost smiled."

(there is a brief burst of laughter. Ranger smiles, because now the Champions and the Justice Squadron no longer believe themselves to be already defeated)

 **Ranger** (to Witchcraft): "Black Shepherd's psionic powers are magical in nature. Can you either suppress or deflect them?"

 **Witchcraft** : "Deflect? Yes."

 **Ranger** : "Good. Do that once the Drifter lets him in. Defender, you're responsible for protecting her." (to Grandfather) "Drain his defenses, then remove his ability to teleport. If he gives us the time to do so, his phasing ability as well. Olivia, guard him."

(Grandfather nods and smiles before planting his walking staff and praying, allocating his VPP to Deflecting Disk + Protection from Evil + Mighty Fortress)

 **Ranger** (to Ghostbane, Ironclad, Blink, and Brawler): "We're the reserves, follow my direction." (to everyone) "If something should happen to me, follow Tomahawk's orders."

(everyone nods. Tense pause as Ranger surveys what is going on outside the forcewall. Witchcraft mutters and gestures before a brief glow of power surrounds her [+10 Lightning Reflexes, cast from her VPP])

 **Ranger** (to the Drifter): "Let him in."

(The Drifter gestures and mutters, then the forcewall protecting the superheroes ripples. After a moment, a repulsive-looking hooded figure walks up to it and casually walks through it as if it didn't exist. There is the flash of an evil smile from somewhere underneath the hood as he plants a crooked walking stick with his left hand and raises his right arm toward Ranger)

(Segment 2, effective DEX 33. Witchcraft and Grandfather hold their actions)

(DEX 30. Everyone suddenly notices a skinny man in a faded harlequin suit and broken scaramouche mask lurching silently like a demented scarecrow over toward where Sapphire is recovering from her injuries. Tomahawk half-moves into his way and misses with a swing of the Dawn Fire tomahawk. Jack Fool trips over rubble from the previous battles trying to evade Tomahawk's attack)

(DEX 29. Thelambra holds her action)

(effective DEX 28. The Drifter re-establishes the forcewall's 'Cannot be escaped with teleportation' advantage and hits Black Shepherd with a suppress Desolidification. Grandfather uses his held action and hits with his "Don't Do That" multipower slot [30d6 Dispel any magical power] for 84 points on Black Shepherd's Power Defense. Black Shepherd has no Power Defense for the rest of the battle)

(DEX 24. Black Shepherd whips his hand around and attempts to hit Grandfather with an EGO attack. Witchcraft hits the attack with her magical deflecting disks spell before it can reach Grandfather)

(Segment 4, effective DEX 33. Witchcraft holds her action, Grandfather switches his Power of God multipower to "Don't EVER do that" [12d6 Major Transform, strip one magical power away from target] and hits for 50 points. There is a unnerving, keening screech from Black Shepherd as the demon within him which gave him his teleportation powers is cast from him)

(DEX 30. Jack Fool wins the roll-off versus Tomahawk. Gibbering nonsense, Jack Fool grabs a convienient obsidian shard which happened to be next to where he tripped and throws it at Grandfather. Thelambra uses her held action from her first phase, and Jack Fool's plant foot slips as he releases the shard, missing Grandfather by a country mile)

(Tomahawk hits Jack Fool for 2 BODY and 12 STUN)

(DEX 29. Thelambra holds this action as well)

(effective DEX 28. The Drifter holds the suppress Desolidification in place on Black Shepherd)

(DEX 24. Black Shepherd attempts to hit Ranger with a Mental Illusion that he has broken off the attack. Witchcraft deflects it)

(Segment 6, effective DEX 33. Witchcraft holds her action, Grandfather hits Black Shepherd with the "Don't EVER Do That" power for 48 points. There is another unnerving, keening screech from Black Shepherd as the demon within him who gave him his phasing powers is cast from him)

(DEX 30. Tomahawk wins the roll-off against Jack Fool and hits for 1 BODY and 11 STUN. Jack Fool reaches his hand behind him and somehow comes up with a wooden stake. Throwing it at Tomahawk, he misses [!]. Thelambra expends her held phase to attempt mental paralysis on Jack Fool, and misses)

(DEX 29. Thelambra holds her action)

(effective DEX 28. The Drifter, sensing the Black Shepherd's permanent loss of Desolidification, drops his Suppress Desolidification and hits with the Lucent Lightnings of Larenthian for 3 BODY and 21 STUN)

 **Ranger** (putting his mask back on, to the rest of the reserves): "I'll be back."

(with a BOOM! Ranger enters the Speed Zone and reappears next to The Drifter. The Black Shepherd and Jack Fool are suddenly over at the periphery of The Drifter's forcewall, both mangled and unmoving)

 **The Drifter** : "You realize they're going to resurrect, don't you?"

 **Ranger** (nodding while catching his breath): "Drop the teleport protection again, have Blink remove them, then re-establish it. We should be safe until morning, now."

* * *

(Somewhere near the Quartier St. Roch, Paris, France. After midnight, February 29th, 1896)

(There is a blinding flash! -- and Captain Chronos, Doctor Destroyer, Ladyhawk, and Starforce appear in a different back alley on the same side of the street as the decrepit bookstore)

 **Captain Chronos** (whispered to Ladyhawk as he hands her a sack with a book): "It doesn't matter where you put it. Just leave it and get right back here."

 **Ladyhawk** : "On it."

(tense pause, then there is an odd reflection of pinkish-white light somewhere on the other side of the street at the end of their alley. Starforce switches through some spectral filters)

 **Starforce** (over radio to Dr. Destroyer): "You got theta-bosons to go through time? Wow. THAT explains why their spectrum looks wrong."

 **Dr. Destroyer** (over radio): "You can even get them to go to other dimensions, too. My facility at Vanshakarana was originally built to explore the Multiverse."

 **Starforce** (over radio): "I did NOT know that!"

 **Dr. Destroyer** (over radio): "You should have."

(a periodic tapping can be heard coming down the street. Starforce, Doctor Destroyer, and Captain Chronos get a brief glimpse of the dapper-looking man from their original visit to 1896 Paris)

 **Starforce** (whispered): "Hope she got the book placed..."

 **Ladyhawk** (behind them all): "Miss me, guys?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "You placed the book?"

 **Ladyhawk** (deadpan): "No, I decided to throw it into the nearest open sewer." (beat) "Of COURSE I placed the book! Geez..."

(Captain Chronos shakes his head and examines the holographic windows above the computer deck on his left arm. After a long moment, they clear, rearrange, and new data streams across them. Most of them are still flashing an angry red)

 **Starforce** : "I just lost target track on ourselves from our earlier visit. Is that good?"

(On the street, the dapper-looking man with the silver-headed cane from their first trip to 1896 Paris walks by, carrying the 'Liber Terribilis')

 **Captain Chronos** : "Excellent. Our timeline's back."

 **Starforce** (looking at Doctor Destroyer): "For now."

* * *

****(Pyramid of the Sun, ruins of Teotihuacan, MX. 1/31/2012, around 3 AM [about 1: 27 in the suggested soundtrack])

/* suggested music (from here to the climax): [Dragonborn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEEI_PyqAnY&t=1m26s) from Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, starting at 1:26 */

(There is a flash of light! -- and Captain Chronos, Doctor Destroyer, Starforce, and Ladyhawk all appear on the platform at the top of the pyramid. More of the holographic windows above Captain Chronos' computer deck are either red, flashing red, or showing red text)

 **Starforce** : "Local cellphone network's reporting the date to be January 31st. I thought The Edomite's ritual was supposed to take place on February 29th."

 **Captain Chronos** : "It will. But if we tried to chrono-jump into that moment in time, we would bounce off the wards around his summoning circle." (beat) "You all need to be INSIDE that summoning circle if you have any chance of stopping Shadow Destroyer."

 **Ladyhawk** : "So how does arriving a month early do that?"

(Starforce is looking off to the east)

 **Starforce** : "Oh, cool!"

(Ladyhawk looks in the direction Starforce is looking. The dawn is growing behind the mountains to their east far too rapidly to be natural)

 **Captain Chronos** : "As Dr. Hawkins so sarcastically put it earlier, I'm using my space-time manipulation powers as a DVR controller."

(the Sun springs into the sky above the mountains and visibly accelerates into the sky. Clouds stream over them as if on fast-forward)

 **Captain Chronos** : "When DEMON establishes their summoning circle on this platform on Leap Day, you three will already be there. It's just a matter of dropping all of you back into the normal flow of time at the correct historical instant."

 **Doctor Destroyer** : "Will Mr. Harmon be there?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "He will be disguised as a member of DEMON's Inner Circle, a deep cover he has successfully maintained during his existence in your timeline." (beat, rambling) "He was rather clever in his choice of cover identity, too. He played The Edomite like a musical instrument, exploiting his desperation to find one specific person that he had seen in his own visions of the future..."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Uh, focus?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "Sorry. It's just so exciting to actually PARTICIPATE in setting up a chronal node, especially one with such huge implications going forward."

(night has fallen while they speak. Stars wheel around the sky at high speed, then dawn explodes behind the mountains again)

(as the day-night cycles alternate, Ladyhawk looks at Starforce)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Bob?"

 **Starforce** : "Yes?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "You were right back at Der Riese. We should have gone with your plan." (beat) "I'm sorry for getting us all into this. I let the fear of what I had seen take over."

(Starforce takes Ladyhawk's hand and squeezes it gently)

 **Starforce** : "What's done is done. Let's complete the mission, OK?"

(Ladyhawk silently mouths the words "Both of them?", and Starforce nods)

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Two weeks out."

(tourists flicker almost ephermally on the platform around them each time the Sun streaks across the sky)

 **Captain Chronos** : "Slowing us down, now." 

**Dr. Destroyer** : "What does my impostor hope to achieve by participating in someone else's ritual of apotheosis?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "He intends to kill The Edomite and do exactly what he was attempting to do himself. Become a King of Edom." (beat) "It is the only way he can save his own life after the paradox you threw him into."

(as the sun sets one more time, the tourists are replaced by Morbanes of DEMON. They spend the night-cycle scribing a pentacle on the platform around them and preparing various devices and artifacts. A superbattle is fought at the foot of the main stairs up the pyramid, then a dome of force flickers for most of the night at that location)

 **Captain Chronos** : "Entering February 29th. Stand by, people."

(angry clouds now roil on fast-forward above their heads as the Sun rises behind them. Five people assume places at the points of the pentacle and raise their arms. For some reason, Ladyhawk's attention is drawn to a beautiful yet eerie raven-haired woman)

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "The Inner Circle?"

 **Captain Chronos** : "Yes."

(a full-scale superbattle on fast-forward is now raging on and around the Pyramid of the Sun. Morbanes on fast-forward assist a decaying man with bandages over both eyes into the center of the pentacle, then vanish. His arms flicker upward, almost hitting Starforce)

 **Captain Chronos** : "The Edomite. On the last day of his profane existence."

(a forcewall springs into existence outside of the five people. Lightning bolts flicker out of the sky repeatedly for a fraction of a second, hammering at it for no effect)

 **Captain Chronos** : "Good luck, guys."

(there is a blinding flash)

* * *

****(Pyramid of the Sun, ruins of Teotihuacan, MX. 2/29/2012 [roughly 1: 56 in the suggested soundtrack])

(Three men and two women stand at the points of a pentagram inscribed into the top platform of the pyramid. A hideously-decayed man with bandages over his eyes stands in the center, his arms upraised to the sky while he chants. Arcane energies shield the top platform from the outside world)

(The British supervillain Aquarius hovers over the Pyramid under a violently-roiling sky. He waves a hand, and massive hailstones plummet to the ground, crushing a Morbane underneath them)

 **Aquarius** : "INSOLENT WORM! YOU THINK YOU CAN CONTEST MY CONTROL OF ALL WEATHER?"

 **Tetsuronin** (flying alongside): "Ranger, Drifter, and I will be attempting to breach the summoning circle! Can you clear a path for Ranger up the stairs?"

 **Aquarius** : "Consider it done, Samurai." (raising his arms to the storm clouds and yelling toward the peak of the Pyramid) "FOR KING AND COUNTRY, YOUR PROFANE SUMMONS SHALL NOT STAND!!"

(lightning hammers the entire length of the main staircase, scattering the corpses of the DEMON initiates tasked to guard it like bowling pins)

(floating in the air off to one side, the Drifter hits the summoning circle with a Drain Resistant Protection at the point directly proximate to the top of the main stairs. As Ranger vanishes with a sharp sonic BOOM! Tetsuronin hits that spot with a multiple-attack 20d6 APx2 Vari-Beam + RPG microgrenade round. As the forcewall ripples under the violence of all the attacks performed against it, Ranger reappears on the pentultimate terrace of the Pyramid, gasping for breath)

 **The Drifter** : ((there is too much energy being funnelled through the Inner Circle. We barely scratched it))

(above the Pyramid, there is a hint of something translucent and dark swirling overhead, growing more distinct with each passing second)

 **Ranger** : ((Again! Grandfather, Witchcraft, help the Drifter! Aquarius, Defender, coordinate with Tetsuronin))

(Robert Caliburn has a semiautomatic rifle summoned and is mowing down DEMON Morbanes and Initiates at the base of the pyramid without stopping)

 **Caliburn** : ((We're out of time! The Barrier is almost rent...))

(Thelambra, standing next to Witchcraft, leaps into the air and starts flying up the Pyramid)

 **Witchcraft** : "WAIT! Where are you going?"

 **Thelambra** : ((if I must die it will be by my husband's side))

(at the top of the platform, there is suddenly a blur of motion all around The Edomite. Doctor Destroyer, Starforce, and Ladyhawk appear in the summoning circle)

(the chanting from both the Inner Circle and The Edomite stops. Awkward pause)

 **Dr. Destroyer** (to the summoning circle): "JAMES HARMON THE THIRD! FACE ME!!"

* * *

****(Pyramid of the Sun. One second later [roughly 2: 09])

 **/* gaming note 1** : Shadow Destroyer's VPP is set to +10d6 to Destroyer-Beam (8 charges), 4d6+1 penetrating RKA (8 charges), and 60 STR TK. Unless Starforce, Ladyhawk, Dr. Destroyer, Tetsuronin, or Defender die, he won't get to change that */

 **/* gaming note 2** : Dr. Destroyer's Technological Arsenal is set to +10d6 to Destroyer-Beam (Same advatages as set on primary Destroyer-Beam, usable once/turn), 1 point RKA Penetratingx2 (3 10-shot autofires), 15d6 Dispel all Tech Device within a 16x8 meter No-Range cone, 5d6 NND Suppress Damage Reduction, +15 Mental Defense, and 70 STR TK. There's one other thing worth 5 equipment points he also set, but it's not on him and not important right now. */

 **/* gaming note 3** : The Edomite used his VPP before the summoning to give himself normal human stats instead of the weaker ones presented for him in the DEMON sourcebook */

 ****(Segment 2: At effective DEX 35, Ladyhawk is right next to the hideous, decaying features of The Edomite. She spins and hits him with both katanas, doing 35 STUN with the first attack [knocking him out and shutting his personal aura of protection off] and 14 BODY and 42 STUN with the second attack [putting him into negative BODY. The Edomite is now dying])

(The Edomite's 'Steal Life from His Servitors' power is now automatically triggered, hitting the closest target -- Ladyhawk. Dropping her katanas, she screams as she begins to wither in front of The Edomite [8 BODY just got drained from her after defenses]; The Edomite is back up to 4 BODY and no longer dying)

(Shadow Destroyer wins the roll-off at DEX 30 with Dr. Destroyer and Starforce. The features of the beautiful yet eerie raven-haired woman swim and become those of Shadow Destroyer in his armor. He hits Dr, Destroyer with multiple-attack Drain SPD + 30d6 Penetrating Destroyer Beam; Destroyer is now at SPD 6 and takes 25 STUN)

(Dr. Destroyer wins the roll-off with Starforce. He hits Shadow Destroyer with Paralysis + Constant Suppress Damage Reduction; Shadow Destroyer has no Damage Reduction until he can get Dr. Destroyer to shut it off)

(Starforce finally gets to go. He has just seen what happened to Ladyhawk and has made his roll to be Enraged)

 **Starforce** (screaming): "NO!!"

(flash-stepping directly above The Edomite, Starforce hits him with a pushed TK Offensive Strike. If you have to know, the roll was 32 BODY and 113 STUN. What's left of The Edomite is a bloody smear in the middle of the summoning circle that isn't even recognizably human)

([2:20] With The Edomite now *very* dead and one of its number now fighting his own personal duel, the Inner Circle loses control of the energies that DEMON was generating across the world and funnelling into the summoning circle. The resulting explosion, more felt than either seen or heard, blasts outward from the peak of the Pyramid of the Sun, knocking out Ladyhawk and Starforce due to their proximity to the source, and outright *killing* both anyone in the Inner Circle not named Shadow Destroyer and all the surviving Morbanes world-wide linked to the ritual via their soul gems)

(As the massive backwash of arcane energy spreads from the apex of the pyramid, Thelambra sees Jack Fool stumbling along the pentultimate terrace towards an unsuspecting Ranger. Grimly, she pushes her flight)

* * *

****(Segment 3: Ladyhawk and Starforce recover from being knocked out. Thanks to the backwash of energy from the aborted ritual, Ladyhawk has recovered the points of BODY which The Edomite had stolen from her)

(Shadow Destroyer breaks Dr. Destroyer's Neurokinetic Paralysis, and erects a 20 ED forcewall while reallocating his forcefield to all ED)

(at the base of the Pyramid, the Left Hand has observed both what Starforce just did to The Edomite and its aftermath)

 **Left Hand** : "YOU SHALL BE AVENGED, MY LORD."

(converting into darkwing form, he streaks up the Pyramid toward where Starforce is recovering from being knocked out)

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!!)

(Blink and Ghostbane appear directly in the Left Hand's way at the second terrace. Ghostbane makes his attack roll, and grabs the Left Hand by each arm)

* * *

****(Segment 4: Dr. Destroyer hits Shadow Destroyer with a 30d6 APx2 Destroyer Beam and does 58 STUN, CON-stunning Shadow Destroyer)

(Gasping, Thelambra lands between Jack Fool and Ranger just as Jack Fool is winding up to throw a sharp splinter of obsidian at Ranger's back which happened to he on the terrace. Her sudden arrival disrupts his throwing motion, unbalancing him. Screaming, he starts to tumble down the side of the Pyramid)

(Ranger whips around, startled. He looks at the tumbling, disintegrating form of Jack Fool falling down the face of the pyramid)

 **Ranger** : "What happened?"

 **Thelambra** (hugging Ranger): "His luck ran out."

(Ghostbane is holding the Left Hand at the second terrace)

 **Left Hand** : "I AM THE LEFT HAND OF THE SHINING DARKNESS! NONE SHALL PREVAIL AGAINST ME!"

(the Left Hand lets Ghostbane have it with a full-power Hellblast. Thanks to his magical absorption, Ghostbane only takes 10 STUN while boosting his STR to 80. It only makes Ghostbane angry)

 **Ghostbane** : "That's where you're wrong, yil-doi." /* jerk, in Navajo */

(with his STR set to Armor-piercing and pushing it, Ghostbane attempts to rip the Left Hand apart limb-from-limb. He does 16 BODY and 88 STUN after defenses, CON-stunning the Left Hand)

(the dark, swirling maw above the Pyramid of the Sun has not gotten any less translucent since the catastrophic end of DEMON's ritual, but still hovers malevolently above the raging battle at the pyramid's top)

 **Witchcraft** (looking into the sky): "Why is that still there? I thought the ritual was disrupted..."

 **Grandfather** : "One more thing must happen before our world is safe."

* * *

****(Segment 5: Ladyhawk and Starforce each take another recovery, looking at each other. Shadow Destroyer recovers from being stunned)

 **Starforce** (touching Ladyhawk's face): "Are you OK?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Let's finish the mission, Nerd-boy!"

(they look at the struggle between Doctor Destroyer and Shadow Destroyer, looking for an opening to influence the outcome)

 **Grandfather** (to Witchcraft): "One of the Doctors Destroyer must be linked to a King of Edom for our world to be still pulled toward Quemetiel."

* * *

****(Segment 6: Ladyhawk and Starforce each hold their phase. Shadow Destroyer wins the roll-off with Dr. Destroyer. Re-erecting his forcefield and force wall as before, he hits Dr. Destroyer again with a Drain SPD + 30d6 APx2 Destroyer Beam; Destroyer is now at SPD 4 and takes 21 STUN)

(Targeting the hex in front of Shadow Destroyer, Doctor Destroyer hits it with 8 out of 10 rounds from his Energetic RPG cannon. Shadow Destroyer takes 8 BODY and 48 STUN, barely catching himself with his flight before the knockback takes him off the top platform)

(Ghostbane, continuing to push his STR, does another 9 BODY and 75 STUN. The Left Hand is dead, and thanks to the Edomite no longer existing, cannot resurrect)

(The Black Shepherd sees Jack Fool tumbling uncontrollably down the face of the Pyramid. On the second terrace, he sees the Left Hand dead in Ghostbane's hands. He turns to escape, and literally runs into the muzzle of Robert Caliburn's shotgun)

 **Caliburn** : "You know the funny thing about your boss granting you immortality?"

(BLAM!)

(Robert Caliburn dismisses his shotgun and produces a cigarette, lighting it with a finger while looking over Black Shepherd's corpse)

 **Caliburn** (taking a drag off of his cigarette): "It doesn't work so well when he's DEAD."

* * *

****(segment 7: Ladyhawk uses her held phase and misses Shadow Destroyer with an RKA energy shuriken)

(Starforce uses his held phase and misses Shadow Destroyer (!) with a drain forcefield)

* * *

(Segment 8, effective DEX 35. Ladyhawk tumbles over her katanas and hits Shadow Destroyer for 23 STUN and 10 STUN)

(Shadow Destroyer wins the roll-off against Starforce at DEX 30)

 **Shadow Destroyer** (gasping): "If I can't have the world, NO ONE WILL!!"

(down to his last 11 STUN, he activates his Qliphotic Rift. Ladyhawk, being the only one in its range who does not have flight, starts to get sucked into it. She aborts her next action phase trying to slow her drag to the rift down by ramming her katanas into the cracks in the pyramid's stonemasonry)

 **Starforce** (to Shadow Destroyer, forcebeams warming up to discharge): "You're out of time. Literally."

(Starforce hits Shadow Destroyer with 120 STR TK and begins to shove him into his own Qliphotic Rift)

(Ghostbane throws the body of the Left Hand off the pyramid. It, too, disintegrates because of the presence of the Qliphotic Rift)

* * *

****(Segment 9: In desperation for his own life, Shadow Destroyer grabs for any handhold to keep Starforce from pushing him into his own Qliphotic Rift. He finds and grabs one of Ladyhawk's legs)

 **Shadow Destroyer** : "IF I GO, STARFORCE, I TAKE YOUR WIFE WITH ME!"

(Starforce wins the roll-off against Dr. Destroyer. Flash-stepping against the pull of the Qliphotic Rift to Ladyhawk's side, he grabs Ladyhawk's left arm while charging up a pushed force spear in Shadow Destroyer's face. The katana which Ladyhawk let go of quivers and flies into the air under the pull of the Rift)

 **Starforce** (to Shadow Destroyer): "LIKE HELL YOU WILL!!"

(Dr. Destroyer grabs Ladyhawk's airborne katana as it flies past him and, pushing his STR, chops through Shadow Destroyer's arm hanging onto Ladyhawk's leg [by my calculations, thats a 10d6 APx2 HKA on a VERY specific and motionless hit location. I don't think I need to roll it])

(with an unearthly, hellish scream, Shadow Destroyer falls into his own Qliphotic Rift and is destroyed along with it)

* * *

(exhausted pause as the dark and swirling maw in the sky fades)

 **Grandfather** (to Caliburn): "The barrier is repaired?"

 **Caliburn** : "No more paradox. We're safe."

* * *

****(Starforce removes the gauntleted arm of the late Shadow Destroyer from Ladyhawk's leg and helps her to her feet [roughly 3: 05])

 **Dr. Destroyer** (handing the katana to Ladyhawk): "My compliments to your blacksmith, Frau Hawkins."

(Ladyhawk accepts her katana back from Destroyer. Unseen to Doctor Destroyer, she takes one of the special shuriken from her utility belt after she sheaths both katanas)

* * *

(The surviving heroes who were outside the summoning circle begin to gather around them)

 **Tetsuronin** (drifting down to the top platform of the pyramid): "There were TWO Doctors Destroyer?"

 **Ranger** (appearing next to him): "Yeah."

 **Defender** (landing next to them): "What do we do now?"

(awkward pause. Starforce quietly switches his secondary weapons array to the Quantum Lock cannon)

* * *

(Ladyhawk looks at Doctor Destroyer)

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue): [[this isn't a sim, this is for REAL. It's go time, Julie]] (verbally to Dr. Destroyer): "Thank you."

(she slams the special shuriken onto Dr. Destroyer, triggers it, and leaps away. It flashes, appearing to surround Destroyer with a fine mist for the barest fraction of a second. In game mechanics, he has just been hit by a 1-point Drain Body only vs. Destreum with x2 Penetration which does damage for the next 60 segments)

 **Dr. Destroyer** (bellowing while firing a 30d6 APx2 Destroyer-Beam at Ladyhawk): "DESTROYER SAVES YOU AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY HIS CHARITY?"

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue while Artful Dodging around the Destroyer-Beam): [[I don't want to think how close he came to hitting me just now]] (verbally, while landing behind Tetsuronin) "It's on him, Bob!"

(Starforce hits Doctor Destroyer with a multiple-attack 120 STR TK Grab/2d6 Suppress Teleport)

 **Starforce** (angry): "That was my WIFE you tried to vaporize, you son of a bitch!"

 **Defender** (preparing blaster): "Alright, I think we've got him! I don't know what else Starforce is shooting at him, but Destroyer can't break that level of telekinesis!"

 **Tetsuronin** : "Hold your fire, something else is happening. I'm getting funny power spikes from Destroyer's armor."

(everyone else who is now on the top platform surround Starforce and Dr. Destroyer)

 **Ranger** (to all): "EVERYONE, CHECK FIRE! Let it play out."

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "Yes, do that. It will make it easier to kill all of you when I'm free."

 **Starforce** (to Dr. Destroyer): "You have business with *me*, first. Remember?"

 **Dr. Destroyer** : "I expected better tactics from you for our duel, mein herr." (beat) "Suppressing my teleportation web was a nice touch, but it means your suit's doing too much. By my calculations, your batteries will be drained in 60 seconds."

 **Starforce** : "A pity I only need to hold you for 35."

 **Dr. Destroyer** (now noticing the increasing failures in his suit): "Wait... What have you DONE?!?"

 **Starforce** (coldly): "Because by MY calculations, that's how many seconds *you* have left to live." 

(stunned, shocked silence from the surviving heroes. Destroyer's armor, for lack of a better term, now appears to be visibly rusting in front of everyone)

 **Starforce** (continuing): "Do try to use them wisely."

* * *

**EPILOGUE** : New Spandau Prison, Australian outback. Five minutes later

(the courtyard in front of the main gate is swarming with frantic activity. UNTIL agents take up firing positions on the surrounding walls, while more have weapons ready along the periphery of the floor)

 **Commadant** (into his cellphone): "Interdiction field is down, Mr. Masahara. You may teleport when ready."

(a pinkish-white swirl of energy shimmers into existence. Defender steps through, followed by Starforce carrying a bound and gagged elderly man over one shoulder, who is in turn followed by Tetsuronin)

 **Agent** (to Commandant): "Interdiction field is back up, sir."

 **Commandant** (to the heroes): "This way, please."

(a portable computer terminal has been set up 10 feet away. Tense pause as the agents track the processional with their weapons)

 **Tetsuronin** (to the computer terminal): "My name is Masahara Yoshihiro, also known as 'Tetsuronin.' I am here to bear witness to the capture and incarceration of Dr. Destroyer in accordance with article 6 of the Destroyer Protocols."

 **Computer** : "IDENTITY CONFIRMED"

 **Defender** (to the computer terminal): "My name is Defender, leader of the Champions, I am also here to bear witness to the capture and incarceration of Dr. Destroyer in accordance with the Destroyer Protocols."

 **Computer** : "IDENTITY CONFIRMED"

 **Starforce** : "My name is Dr. Robert Hawkins, also known as 'Starforce.'"

(the computer bleeps, as if an error has occured)

(tense pause, as the Commandant walks up to him)

 **Commandant** : "And you are here because..."

 **Starforce** : "I have a delivery."

(he hoists the bound and entangled elderly man off his shoulder and sets him down on the table in front of the Commandant. The Commandant's eyes widen as he recognizes Albert Zerstoiten's face) 

(the gags around Zerstoiten's mouth prevent him from speaking. Only his eyes express the rage he feels as he looks around him)

 **Starforce** (coldly): "My father, Albert Zerstoiten."

(pause while Bob looks around defiantly at all the guards and officers in the courtyard staring at him in disbelief)

 **Starforce** (coldly): "Now where do I go to get my life back?"

* * *

(fin)


End file.
